The Invisible Hand/Transcript
Sherlock Holmes: Murderous psychopaths are being wielded like surgical tools. International energy markets are being manipulated by the same dark forces that made an attempt on my father's life. And I have no idea who is responsible. That's the good news. We can now officially eliminate the most sinister suspect. Jamie Moriarty is not pulling these strings. Joan Watson: Are you talking to me? Sherlock: You left? Watson: Well, you hadn't said anything to me in almost an hour. It seemed like you wanted to be alone with her letters. Sherlock: I was not lost in reverie. I was looking for patterns in our correspondence, charting the timeline of recent events. I have to be sure that she's not behind all this. Watson: She puts dates in her little love notes? Sherlock: No. I do. I log all of our correspondence for precisely this reason. According to her jailors, I am far and away her most frequent pen pal. She'll jot the odd note to her lawyer, cousin, childhood friend, but rarely without writing to me as well. So even if all her other missives were densely packed with coded instructions, I know the timing is incompatible. Watson: You're sure? Sherlock: I don't doubt her ability to make bold moves through proxies, but I'm telling you, she lacks the lines of communications to be so prolific. There is another reason for this recent spree. Someone else has taken over. Watson: That's what you said at the station. I still don't understand exactly what you think this person took over. Sherlock: Her apparatus. Her Rolodex. Her job, for want of a better word. Watson: Moriarty wasn't the Vice President of Inhuman Resources. She didn't fill a job at a corporation that trades on the NASDAQ. Sherlock: Her enterprise wasn't even a proper cartel. It was more a collection of compromised intelligence analysts, corporate officers, violent thugs. Watson: Exactly. No one had to step into her shoes. Sherlock: Yet I should have anticipated that someone would. I lost sight of an elemental truth, Watson. Nature abhors a vacuum. Watson: Say you're right. Sherlock: Yes, let's, since I am. Watson: A few years ago, your father made an enemy out of someone as powerful as Moriarty. Sherlock: Presumably, his business got in the way of their business. Watson: So they sent an assassin after him in Paris. Because they could. All the more reason to bring the Captain into the loop, right? Maybe the NSA and the FBI, too? Sherlock: We will tell no one. We are hunting an individual with tremendous resources, international reach and a total lack of conscience. Our only advantage is that this person might not know that their existence has been detected, so why give that away? Watson: So there's no one you trust? Sherlock: I trust you. Everyone else, we'll be doing them a favor. If this foe is anything like their predecessor, they won't hesitate to kill anyone on their trail. Allison Pitzker: I'm sorry. There was nobody at Jessica's desk. Morland Holmes: I sent everyone else home. I have to leave myself. But I thought you could favor me with a quick update on our Asian operations. Pitzker: Big news is Turretson Global is close to giving us their business in Pakistan. They're checking comps, asking about our retainer. Morland: Don't close for less than 60. Where are the Malaysians on infrastructure? Pitzker: Obviously, the projections are good, but if we keep getting jammed up on water rights, it's a moot point. Morland: I'll speak to Rajiv in the morning. Was there anything else? Christopher Gray: We're clear here, sir. Car's coming up now. Pitzker: You've got quite an entourage these days. Is everything all right? Morland: No, Allison, it's not. I asked you to get me competitive bids on all the projects that Emil Kurtz was working on. I still don't have that report. Pitzker: I'll have it for you in the morning. Morland: Good, then. Pitzker: Excuse me, what are you doing? Ruslan Krasnov: What? Pitzker: Where's your escort? You're not supposed to be up here alone. Detective Bell: Anything? Watson: I got an I.D. on the other victim. Allison Pitzker. She was a VP here. Probably working late. Bell: Don't suppose CSU is optimistic about forensics up there. Watson: That's another thing I hate about bombs. They don't leave much useful evidence. Bell: Well, neither do trained mercenaries. The guy who did this put two .38 super rounds right through the guard's heart. Practically on top of each other. Took the surveillance footage, too. People this good don't always get found. Captain Gregson: Fire department wants us to clear out. They don't like the look of a couple of beams up there that got damaged by the blast. Bell: No reason to risk it. We're striking out in there. Watson: Did the canvass turn up any witnesses? Gregson: No. Nobody saw a thing. Frankly, I didn't have high hopes. It was late, but I thought there'd be some video. Bell: Pretty swank address. Got to be a dozen security cameras up and down this block, no? Gregson: Well, we checked every building on the street. It's as if someone went around aiming all the cameras away from this building. Watson: I wouldn't necessarily give the bomber credit for that. Knowing Morland, he probably paid people to turn their lenses away from his business. Bell: Well, that's great. We don't get to see the bomber coming and going 'cause Mr. Holmes's clients don't want to be seen coming and going? Watson: All of them are those corporate vampire types. Half of them probably wouldn't even show up on film. Bell: Obviously, someone he tangled with has it out for him. First, they kill his guy, Kurtz, now this? Gregson: Where'd your partner go? He took one look around, and he was gone. You guys have a suspect in mind? Watson: No. He just wanted to get ahold of his father, make sure he was okay. Gregson: He's fine. We finally got ahold of one of his people a few minutes ago. Apparently, he's in Malaysia on business. Sherlock didn't know? Watson: No. They don't talk much. Bodyguard 1: Clear. Morland: How long do you expect me to cower here? Gray: I'm bringing on more people, sir. You'll be able to resume your schedule in a couple of days. Morland: Until then? Gray: Nobody knows about this place. We'd like to keep it that way. That means no calls, and no computers. Bodyguard 1: It's all clear. Morland: Both of you find somewhere else to be. Sherlock: Don't point your guns at me. I just want to talk to my father. You really expect me to believe you'd gone to Malaysia? Morland: How did you know to find me here? Sherlock: I'm glad I still have the capacity to surprise you. It's not mutual. I need to speak to you in private. I've identified the party you've been warring with these last few months. Morland: Who is it? Sherlock: It's not a who. It's a what. You're in more danger than you realize. Morland: I like to think of myself as a person who understands how the world works, but this organization you described, I've never considered the possibility of such a thing. Sherlock: Well, lack of imagination is an occupational hazard for an apex predator. A great white shark doesn't live in fear of shadows in the deep, does it? Morland: You say this group once had a leader, Moriarty. Well, now that she's off the board, who leads them now? Sherlock: I'm attempting to find out. So this group tried to kill you several years ago, failed. They set off a bomb in your office last night, but only after you'd left. So are we to assume that they're less angry with you now than they were then? Morland: No, I read the bomb as a shot across the bow. Final warning to stop my investigation into Sabine's death. And as an added bonus, I've been running for cover. My resources are tied up in police, insurance companies, the grieving relatives of my employees. But it has given me time to consider just how far I'm willing to go. Sherlock: It's a worthwhile question. Morland: Have you ever known me to be intimidated? Sherlock: I'm not here to counsel surrender. Just that you proceed with caution. The depravity of these people is unmatched. Morland: We'll see. Sherlock: So I don't blame you for keeping Watson and me at arm's length. But now is the time to let us in. If for no other reason than you might not live to see this through. Morland: You'll keep me apprised of any leads that you and the police may develop? Sherlock: You have my word. Morland: I believe the bomb was planted by the same man who killed Sabine. Ruslan Krasnov. Sherlock: Last I heard, he was in Russia. An escaped prisoner on the lam. You have proof he's even alive? Morland: I used to. It was destroyed. I had his left thumb in a jar in my office. Krasnov cut it off himself. He did it to wriggle out of his shackles so he could escape his cell. When I accused the warden of orchestrating the breakout himself, he... Sherlock: Sent it to you, prove he wasn't complicit. Morland: I expended a small fortune making friends in the hinterlands around Novgorod. But Krasnov had a better connected ally. Presumably someone that didn't want me speaking to him. This person helped him get to the port in Tallinn, Estonia. And he caught a ship. An oil tanker owned by Rixar Energy. But I only found out last week, two days after the ship docked in Newark. Sherlock: And you think now he's gone back to work for his old employer, who tried to kill you all those years ago. Morland: So it would seem. Sherlock: I'll be in touch. Stay here where it's safe. Morland: I'm not made of glass, son. Sherlock: If you leave, you invite the possibility of more collateral damage. Let's let the two murders at your office be the last, shall we? Watson: Sherlock? Sherlock: Kitchen! Watson. Watson. Watson: You look pleased with yourself. Sherlock: I was just beating up Bob. Nothing better for elevating one's heart rate and mood. Watson: I could use some of that myself. I spent the day running into walls. Lying to our friends. It looks like your day was a little more productive. Sherlock: That's a fair wager. Watson: Where did this come from? Sherlock: It's on loan from the authorities. You get my message? Watson: That Krasnov's in New York, yeah. I told the Captain what you said, that your father thought Krasnov was our best suspect. I figured finding him would be job one, but this makes me think you've got something else in mind. Sherlock: Krasnov is a means to an end. We want to know who he's working for. According to my father, that person orchestrated Krasnov's journey to the United States by facilitating the help of Rixar Energy. All in all, three different oil companies have been manipulated by Moriarty's successor in the last few weeks. Watson: So you went looking for overlap between three companies' board members. Sherlock: This Venn diagram has yielded a rogue's gallery of corporate toadies, but they're all too old, too dumb or too diseased to helm a proper global conspiracy. Watson: So you spent the day crossing old fogies off the list. Sherlock: No, they're not all old. And they're not all crossed off. Watson: Who is Joshua Vikner? Sherlock: Economics professor. He's currently teaching in New York, but he has hopscotched all over the Ivy League and Oxbridge Colleges. To supplement his income, he makes paid speeches to energy companies, including all three of the conglomerates that I looked at. Watson: "Profit, Conscience and Law in Developing Markets, an address to Rixar's annual shareholder meeting." So he gives pep talks to oil barons and their buddies. Not the most noble way to pay the bills, but it does explain why he'd cross with all these companies. Sherlock: It's an explanation. It's not the whole explanation. I'm quite certain Professor Vikner is a murderous international criminal and the heir to Jamie Moriarty's fetid throne. I much prefer the photograph inside this dust jacket to the one he uses for his paid appearances. It's older, but it's much more revealing. That painting behind him, it's a Vermeer. Of sorts. It's a rather impressive reimagining of one of the Dutch master's famed lost canvases. Watson: Okay. Sherlock: Now, when I still knew Moriarty as Irene Adler, we had a rather interesting conversation about Vermeer. About the problems that she encountered trying to reproduce his work. Watson: That's why you asked for her painting. Sherlock: I've been studying her work. Her brushstrokes, her use of light. I'd have to see the pseudo Vermeer to be sure, but I strongly suspect that she gave that painting to Vikner, as well as the keys to her kingdom. Sherlock: Professor Vikner, good morning. Joshua Vikner: Sherlock Holmes. Dr. Watson. What took you so long? Vikner: I teach here sometimes, when the weather is nice. Watson: Today is nice. Teach us. Tell us how and when you took over Moriarty's organization. Sherlock: So you don't deny it? Vikner: To you? What would be the point? Watson: How do you know about us? Vikner: Even if you weren't responsible for what happened to her, well, you're the son of Morland Holmes. Sherlock: Your enemy. Vikner: Well, he's been turning over certain rocks. Watson: So you set a bomb off in his New York office, that makes sense to me. Sherlock: Joshua Vikner, born 1969. You attended Eton and Oxford before completing a double doctorate in Economics and Political Science. You currently hold an endowed chair in Economics here. And you serve as senior advisor to the U.N. Fund for Developing Nations. I would say that was a brilliant cover, except it's not a cover. You really are a professor, and you really are at the helm of an organization which is steeped in blood. Vikner: My predecessor was a painter. Watson: So was Hitler. Vikner: My point is that this job that you're describing doesn't come with prerequisites. All you need is an eye for opportunity. Sherlock: And Moriarty's detention was your opportunity. Vikner: Are you familiar with The Invisible Hand? Sherlock: It's a metaphor used by Adam Smith to describe social benefits arising from individual actions. Are you suggesting that you're an invisible hand? Because if you can explain to me how blowing up buildings and turning psychopaths into assassins is benefitting society, I might register for one of your classes. Vikner: When Jamie went away, there was chaos. Alliances she helped forge fell apart. Our best people were fighting themselves. I brought order, stability. Sherlock: How did you two know each other? She never mentioned you. She and I were quite close. Vikner: I know. But she and I were close once, too. Sherlock: You're her daughter's father. Vikner: You found me. But I want you to know I bear you no ill will. Nor does anyone I oversee. You're untouchable. Watson: What does that mean? Vikner: Well, years ago, Jamie made it clear that you were not to be harmed. Ever. Well, the same courtesy has been extended to you. Though I'm not entirely sure why. Sherlock: We are responsible for her incarceration. Vikner: Do you think that makes you less fascinating to her? Watson: Say we believe you. We're not the ones in danger, you are. Sherlock: Several years ago, you started a war with my father, and that's rapidly reaching its denouement. If you confess to bombing his office building, we can see to it that you are protected from any reprisals. Vikner: That's very generous of you. I'll think about it. Right now I have a class to teach. Sherlock: Uh, before you go, look at your hand. Not invisible anymore. Watson: That was weird. Sherlock: Did you expect him to just surrender himself? Watson: No. I mean the whole Moriarty thing. You, him, her. Sherlock: Are you 12 years old? Watson: I mean, I know she had a kid. I just figured the father would be... Sherlock: More like me? Watson: Less like her. Sherlock: She was young when she had her daughter. Perhaps she felt the need to seduce him on her rise to power, or theirs was a love for the ages. Neither scenario changes what we have to do now. Watson: I notice you didn't mention anything about Krasnov. You don't want him to know that we know that he was the one who set off the bomb. Sherlock: Why tempt him to disappear his favorite assassin? Watson: If we can find Krasnov and connect him to Vikner... Sherlock: We'll have them both. Watson: The police know about Krasnov. How do we explain Vikner? Sherlock: We don't. My father has ears everywhere. We keep the name Joshua Vikner to ourselves for now. The last thing we need is more bloodshed. Bell: Bomb squad's preliminary report, hot off the presses. The device was a homemade rig, detonated by a remote trigger, most likely a cell phone. They're looking through some electronics that may have been part of the detonator. Any luck, they'll be able to pull a phone number that points to the Russian you two like. Sherlock: Bomb's primary ingredients were acetone and peroxide. Two liquids. Watson: Acetone and peroxide, those are just fancy names for nail polish remover and hair dye. You can pick that up at any supermarket. Bell: We're pulling sales records from local drugstores and chemical supply companies, looking for suspicious purchases. So far, nothing's turned up. Watson: So how much liquid explosive would it take to do this kind of damage? Bell: Bomb squad estimates between ten and 20 gallons. Watson: Can't imagine 20 gallons of anything getting into Morland's office without someone noticing it. Bell: Pretty sure someone did notice. The two victims were shot and killed before the bomb exploded, remember? Watson: Yeah, but the security at this building was tight. The guard's desk was less than 40 feet from the entrance. If he saw anything suspicious come through that door, he would have hit the silent alarm. Bell: You think the bomb was disguised. Well, how do you camouflage 20 gallons of explosive liquid? Sherlock: I can think of a way. Emerald Lake Bottled Water Supervisor: Yeah, yeah, you're right. We, we were supposed to make a delivery to that address two nights ago. Sherlock: Supposed to? Supervisor: George, the guy that works that route, his truck went missing that night. Bell: It was stolen? Supervisor: Well, sort of. See, he, he pulled over to get some food, and when he came out of the restaurant, his truck was gone. So he went back inside to call the cops, and he waited at the counter for them to get there. But by the time they got there, the truck was back, and it was parked in the same spot. Now, nothing was damaged, nothing was missing, so the cops just chalked it up to a prank. You know, kids. But you think the truck was used to deliver a bomb? Watson: We think the explosives were in jugs like those. One of your trucks and one of your uniforms would have gone a long way towards getting them into the building. Bell: The restaurant George went to, do you happen to know if they have security cameras in their parking lot? Supervisor: Well, he and the cops both asked, but place had nothing. You know, the day after it happened, George had said that he wished he could find those little punks that took the truck because he wanted to thank them, because if it wasn't for them, he would've been there when the bomb went off. We just didn't put two and two together. Sherlock: Where's the vehicle now? Supervisor: It's out back. You want to see it? Sherlock: Windshield is covered in soot particles. Residue from the explosion, no doubt. Bell: Would've had to been parked pretty close to get soot from the explosion on the windshield. Our bomber must like to watch. Watson: Do all the trucks have two of these. Supervisor: Some. Why? Watson: Well, this one looks like it's been here forever, and this one looks like it's brand new. Supervisor: Is that important? Watson: It is if it means this one used to have a bomb strapped to it. Krasnov would not have risked assembling an explosive device in the back of a water truck. He would have prepared it and strapped it to the hand truck in advance. Sherlock: Hmm. Bell: It does look new. If he bought it in the last few days, it's a lead, but there's got to be hundreds of places that sell these things. Sherlock: How many of them are having a sale on this kind of hand truck though? Two UPC stickers. Indicates change of price. Bell: Find the store selling that hand truck at that specific price... Watson: And we may find clues to Krasnov's location. Watson: Well, that was Marcus. Turns out, the card that Krasnov used at the hardware store was a gift card, like the kind that you can buy at supermarkets. Sherlock: Here I was hoping he'd use his own card to accumulate miles. He was probably given dozens of those by his employer. Watson: Yeah, well, the good news is, the card number can be tracked. The police were able to identify a few other places where the card was used. Most of the charges were in a section of Queens where there are a couple of no-tell motels. With any luck, they'll find him in one. Sherlock: If he was Moriarty's agent, she'd have him on the other side of the globe by now. Watson: Yeah, well, she probably wouldn't have given him a bunch of gift cards either. I mean, Vikner may have her job, but it doesn't mean he's as good at it as she was. What? Sherlock: That's the first time you've ever paid her a compliment. Watson: She also had great taste in shoes. Happy? You expecting someone? Sherlock: You could say that. Father. What a surprise. Morland: Police apparently are hot on the trail of Ruslan Krasnov. Sherlock: Obviously, you heard from one of your sources. I was just telling Watson this morning... Morland: You said that you would keep me apprised of any new developments. You gave me your word. Sherlock: Yes. I went back on it. It's obvious that you mean Krasnov harm. I can't let that happen. Morland: I only intended to convince him to give me the name of his employer. Sherlock: Well, by "convince" you mean "torture" I, I could get behind that, but then what would you do to him? To the man who gunned down your great love, bombed your office building. Let him off with a warning? No. He should not be killed, he should be made to testify. Now, if you'll excuse me, Watson and I have got some... Morland: Against whom? Sherlock: What? Morland: You said he should be made to testify. Against whom? Sherlock: Against whoever hired him, obviously. Morland: You already know who it is. Sherlock: I do not. Morland: Stop lying to me, Sherlock! If you're right, and we're dealing with an organization as powerful as the one you have described, the NYPD is out of its league. Sherlock: They were quite helpful in bringing down Jamie Moriarty. Morland: Oh, were they? Yes, you cut off the head, but the rest of the body remained. And if it hadn't, perhaps Sabine would still be alive. Sherlock: Are you suggesting it's my fault that she's dead? Morland: In the wake of this Moriarty's arrest, did you hunt down the other members of her group? Across the country, across the globe? Or did you stay here and lick your wounds? Perhaps you went off on another of your binges. Facing hardship was never your line of country. Never mind Sabine. If not for you, how many other lives need not have been lost? You talk all the time about the blood on my hands. But how about the blood on yours? Give me the name. Sherlock: When the individual is brought to justice, you can read about it in the paper, just like everyone else. Sherlock: Don't drink the camel milk. It's expired. Watson: At least tell me the mopane worms are still okay. Sherlock: Sadly, no. Many of my snacks have gone bad. What? Watson: Nothing. Just trying to remember the last time I saw you clean up after yourself. Sherlock: You and my father, both. Watson: You know I didn't mean it like that. Sherlock: Several years ago, I anticipated that without Moriarty, her group would fall apart. That was a mistake. Watson: You're crazy. Sherlock: Am I? Watson: Moriarty didn't get locked up in the county jail. She was taken into custody by the U.S. government. Didn't you think they would take things from there? Sherlock: 'Cause the American government always sees things through? I need to find out why it happened. Watson: Why what happened? Sherlock: The attempt on my father's life. Last night, he suggested that I was responsible for Sabine Raoult's death. The shooting took place shortly after Moriarty was sentenced. Perhaps her ex-lover, the professor, wanted to avenge her. Watson: By killing a man you literally had no relationship with? How does that make any sense? Sherlock (phone): Marcus. Bell (phone): We got Ruslan Krasnov. Scooped him up outside a flophouse in Queens. Thought you and Joan would want to be here when we talk to him. Ruslan Krasnov: No English. Gregson: Yeah, you keep saying that. But we all saw the video from the hardware store. You got along fine with the guy at the register. Krasnov: No English. Sherlock: Do you think we're fools, Mr. Krasnov? Krasnov (in Russian): "The cleverest of all, is the man who calls himself a fool at least once a month." Sherlock: You're an admirer of Dostoyevsky. I, myself, prefer Cicero. Sherlock (in Russia): "It is the peculiar quality of a fool to perceive the faults of others and to forget his own." Sherlock: You can talk to us in any language you want, but you will talk to us. Krasnov: Police say I set off a bomb. Only I know nothing. I'm here to see New York. Bell: You're a tourist? Krasnov: For now. I like it, maybe I stay. Gregson: Trust me, you're staying. Which prison and for how long depends on what you say in this room today. Krasnov: About? Watson: The person who hired you to plant that bomb. Gregson: You talk to us, and I'll talk to the D.A. about cutting you a deal. Krasnov: An enticing offer. In the event I'm ever on trial in this country, I'll consider it. Bell: Mr. Krasnov... Krasnov: You have a picture of me buying a hand truck that you said looks like one used by a bomber. That's not enough to charge me. I'll be leaving this station by nightfall. Gregson: You're a wanted fugitive. Krasnov: In Russia. Not here. And as I'm sure you're aware, Captain, there is no extradition treaty between my country and yours. I can't be detained unless you can prove I committed a crime on American soil. You cannot. Bell: Last chance, Ruslan. Krasnov: I'm not ashamed to confess that I'm ignorant of what I do not know. Cicero. Sherlock: We're wasting our time with him. Before you return Mr. Krasnov to holding, I suggest that he be put on strict suicide-watch protocol. It's quite obvious the long Russian winters have taken their toll. He should be relieved of his belt and his shoelaces immediately. Bell: You heard the man. Bell: The guy's obviously not a suicide risk, so you want to tell us why you wanted his belt and laces? Sherlock: The shoelaces would make it harder for him to walk. Because why not? The belt buckle was the real prize. Gregson: How so? Sherlock: Smell it. Gregson: What is it? Sherlock: Confirmation of something I suspected about the bomb he planted. Given the size of the blast radius, it seemed likely that an additive propellant was used to enhance the device's footprint. Watson: The report we read didn't mention anything about a propellant. Sherlock: Probably because it burned up in the explosion. Most do. But I now believe it was a chemical commonly used in pesticides called nitroguanidine. One of the characteristics of nitroguanidine is a tendency to corrode metal, as well as a very distinctive smell like latex paint. The condition of this belt buckle suggests that Krasnov is responsible not only for planting the device, but for building it as well. Bell: Well, "suggests" isn't gonna be enough to charge him. Sherlock: No, but unlike the bomb's other ingredients, nitroguanidine cannot be purchased at just any corner shop. Watson: If we can trace where it came from, we might be able to link him more directly to the bomb. Gregson: Maybe then, he flips on his boss. Sherlock: Among the various debits on his uh, gift card, I noticed a stop at a sandwich shop in Dutchess County several days ago. Bell: Caught our eye, too. It's a couple hours north of the city, nothing but farmland. Sherlock: Makes one wonder whether the propellant was distilled from a pesticide purchased near there. Bell: I'll make some calls upstate, see if anyone remembers him. Sherlock: Watson will assist you. I have an appointment I have to keep. Watson: Hey. You want to tell me what's more important than working the case against Krasnov? Sherlock: Meeting with his employer. The professor has requested the pleasure of my company. Obviously, he's heard that we have his man in custody. Watson: You think you should see him alone? Sherlock: Well, I'm untouchable, remember? Anyway, the location he's chosen will make it very difficult for him to act against me. Sherlock: I've seen subtler displays of insensitivity. Do you attend the wakes of all of your victims? Vikner: I wasn't sure you believed me the other day when I said you wouldn't be harmed. This struck me as a place you'd be willing to meet. There's a nice crowd. Thanks to you. Or thanks to your father. He forced my hand. Sherlock: Sorry I couldn't bring our mutual friend, Mr. Krasnov. He's a much gentler soul than I'd imagined. He feels terrible about what he did. My colleagues are looking for a way for him to atone, even as we speak. Vikner: I shouldn't tell you this, but you actually have a shot with Ruslan. When he was arrested in Russia, he got a message to me. He was gonna talk unless I helped him. But I didn't come here to talk about him. Sherlock: Whom, then? Vikner: You. You caught me by surprise. Throwing yourself into recent affairs with such brio. Well, Jamie told me years ago that you were brilliant, but she also said that you hated your father. Did she have that wrong? Sherlock: No, my relationship with my father is really none of your concern. Vikner: Obviously, it is. You seem aligned with him now. And I can't touch you. If you really are committed to helping your father, I may have to sue for peace. I can't fight both Holmes men. I mean, I could, but I would win the battle and lose the war. Sherlock: You want me to help forge a truce with my father. Vikner: Well, after everything that's happened, don't you think that would be best? Sherlock: Well, you've been very forthcoming. So, tell me, why'd you try to kill him in the first place? Vikner: That was business. Sherlock: No, it wasn't. I've studied that event in great detail, and unlike your other plots, manipulating Colombian oil futures, for example, the upside, it eludes me. On paper, you had nothing to gain from his death. He was unaware of you or your group. And in failing, you awoke this slumbering giant. So I'd like to know why. Vikner: Will you help me or not? Sherlock: Even if I was in the habit of letting murderers walk free, there's really nothing to be done about my father. He wants your head. Vikner: We all want things. Sherlock: You crossed a line with him. There'll be no peace until you're incarcerated or dead. Vikner: No peace it is. Gregson: What am I looking at here? Bell: Open case up in Poughkeepsie. Security guard named Allen Nathanson is missing. Watson: His ex-wife called the cops two days ago. He didn't pick up their son for the weekend. She couldn't reach him and neither could his boss. Gregson: Says here he worked at Jarrett Chemical Supply? Is that near the sandwich shop where Krasnov ate? Bell: Two miles up the road. That's what caught our attention, too. The folks there thought Nathanson just flaked, deserted his post in the middle of his overnight shift. Watson: We asked them to take a closer look at their premises. They found evidence that someone had broken into one of their sheds. Bell: Pretty sure that's Nathanson's blood. We think he crossed with Krasnov, who was there to steal a barrel of pesticide. There's one missing. Watson: Clothianidin is used to treat corn crops. I've heard Sherlock rail against the stuff. It's bad for bees. But it is good for explosives. With a little know-how, you can extract a propellant like Krasnov used in his bomb. Gregson: Is that a partial handprint? Did they run it? Bell: No, it was too smeared. There weren't any good whorls, but it's not a partial. It's just that Krasnov has a partial hand. He's missing his left thumb. Gregson: I think it's time we introduced Mr. Krasnov to an assistant district attorney. He asked for a crime on American soil? I think he's got one. Gregson: Uh, it's your meeting, Lydia, but remember, we're looking for more than the whereabouts of Nathanson's body. Officer Pennebaker: Detectives. Detective #1: Yeah. I know you? Pennebaker: Uh, I'm Officer Pennebaker, out of the 8-7. Detective 1: What do you need, son? Pennebaker: This is Ruslan Krasnov, right? Detective 1: Yeah. Why do you want to know? You okay, son? Bell: Get down! Shots fired! Gregson: Stay back, stay back. Who's got the shooter?! Detective 1: He's down! It's over! Gregson: Where is he?! Detective 1: His name's Pennebaker. He shot the prisoner, and then he shot himself. Gregson (phone): I'm not speaking ill of the dead, Mike. I'm investigating a murder-suicide that just happened under my roof! I got a dead witness and a building full of people who want to know: how does a shooting go down in the middle of a damn police precinct? I want you to round up his C.O. and all his friends, and get them down here for questioning, now. Gregson: 8-7's claiming Pennebaker was some kind of rising star over there. His captain swears he wasn't dirty. Watson: He asked for Ruslan Krasnov by name. Gregson: I know. After he shot him, he blows his own brains out? Who does that for money? Sherlock: When Marcus called, he said the assailant left some sort of note? Watson: Pennebaker's mother got an e-mail from him. "I'm sorry." That's all it said. Bell: You were right. Gregson: About what? Bell: Pennebaker was one of the psychopaths identified by the DANTE survey. Gregson: What are you talking about? Sherlock: For a few days now, we've been aware there are six such individuals. One is dead, another is in custody. Gregson: Yes. CCS was working to identify the other four off their I.P. addresses. Bell: Yeah, well, one down. The e-mail Pennebaker sent his Mom came from a computer that was used to take the survey last July. Sherlock: An agenda is being perpetrated against my father. His building was bombed by Ruslan Krasnov. His employee, Emil Kurtz, was murdered by another one of DANTE's mental defectives. When Officer Pennebaker's actions seemed impossible to explain, I suggested his I.P. address be checked against our list. Gregson: The guy who killed Kurtz was paid to do it. Pennebaker had two years on the job. No complaints, no disciplinary actions against him. But you're telling me he was so crazy that he actually took money to cap himself? Sherlock: I'm as skeptical as you are that he was financially motivated, and that he was suddenly overcome with remorse. Watson: You think he was blackmailed? Sherlock: He was a psychopath and an officer of the law. Hard to imagine that he didn't have skeletons in his closet. So perhaps someone found one, took advantage. Sherlock: You should try and get some sleep tonight. We need to be at our best for what's to come. You know as well as I do what would happen if Vikner's identity was known by our colleagues. The next killer would simply have more targets on his list. Watson: I didn't say anything. Sherlock: I know you don't like keeping secrets from Marcus and the Captain. I assure you, neither do I. I still haven't completely shaken the feeling that there's someone else who I should talk to. Watson: Your father. Even if he had Vikner killed, I mean, would that really solve everything? Won't it just be the next man up for this group? Sherlock: I assume so. It's difficult to imagine that the next man would be as capable. Moriarty carried Vikner's child to term. She endorsed him with her very genes, and then allowed him to keep her machinery grinding on. Can you imagine a scenario in which she overlooked a more capable candidate? Watson: The world would definitely be a better place without Joshua Vikner in it, no question. But I really don't think you want to be an accessory to murder. What? Sherlock: I forgot something at the station. Would you mind returning with me? Watson: So what are we doing? Sherlock: Apologies for the subterfuge. I thought, perhaps, we were being watched. Watson: I didn't see anyone on the street. Sherlock: No, the light was on in the McGuiness's apartment across the way. They're out of town. Forgive my paranoia, but given recent events, I thought it best to use this entrance. Watson: So what do you want to do? Dig deeper into Pennebaker? Take another look at Krasnov? Or are we seriously thinking about calling your father? Sherlock: None of the above, Watson. Turns out, I'm not paranoid. Category:Transcripts